Love is the greatest and most excellent thing we are masters of; and therefore it is folly and baseness to bestow it unworthily; it is indeed, the only thing we can call our own, other things may be taken from us by violence; but none can ravish our love: if anything else be counted ours, by giving our love, we give all.
-h.s.
I will hold Him and I will never let Him go; I will die with Him, and will be consumed in the flames of His love. One flame will consume this divine Creator and His wretched creature. Jesus gives Himself unreservedly to me, and I give myself unreservedly to Him. I will live and die in His loving arms; neither life nor death shall ever separate me from Him. O eternal love, my soul longs after You, and chooses You forever. Come, Holy Spirit, and inflame our hearts in love. O to love! O to die! To die to all other loves, and to live only for the love of Jesus Christ! O redeemer of our souls, grant that we may eternally sing, long live Jesus, whom I love. I love Jesus, who lives forever and ever.
my faith is old my heart is hard my prayers are cold and i know how i ought to be alive to You and dead to me
but what can be done for an old heart like mine soften it up with oil and wine the oil is You, Your spirit of love please wash me anew with the wine of Your blood
i've been learning a lot about praise and thanksgiving these days. the power of praise and thanksgiving is that it renews my mind (Rom 12:2) from the natural tendency of my unrenewed mind to think negatively or to be worried or anxious and it sets my mind on the character and truths of God that easily escape my mind.
after watching this joyful set (starting around the 40-50 minute mark) i made a list of things about the character of Jesus that i'm thankful for.
thank you Jesus for,
1) clothing me with righteousness (2 Cor 5:21) in the depths of my sin, even when I still hated You (Rom 5:10)
2) raising me up and seating me at Your right hand in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6), and making Your home INSIDE of me through the indwelling of your Holy Spirit (14:23)
3) giving me the grace and anointing to love You and to love others
4) the spirit of adoption, that I could call You Abba Father (Rom 8:15)
5) your perfect leadership, that You always know what is best for me, down to every detail
6) being the Good Shepherd who always leads me into paths of righteousness. (Ps 23:3) No one who waits upon You will be put to shame. (Ps 25:3)
7) knowing me better than I know myself (Ps 139:1). I have no shame when I stand before You. I don’t need to hide anything from You. You know my thoughts and words even before it is on my tongue (Ps139:4)
8) Your perfect love that which satisfies every desire of my heart (Ps 37:4). only You can satisfy my heart’s desires.
9) being a God that withholds no good thing from me. You are my shield and my great reward (Gen 15:1)
10) not leaving me to be alone. for You have given me Holy Spirit, my Comforter, Teacher, and Helper (John 14:16), my Advocate, and my Best Friend.
11) being a God of justice. You hear every heart’s cry, you hold every tear in your hand, for Your name is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11)
12) being a God of covenants. You who kept your promises with Abraham, Noah, and Moses. For all your promises are yes and amen! (2 Cor 1:20)
13) never leaving nor forsaking me (Heb 13:5) nor forgetting about me. for you have graven me on the palm of your hands (Is 49:15)
14) coming down to earth to set every captive free, to proclaim liberty to the brokenhearted, and freedom to the oppressed. (Luke 4:18). You who are committed to making every wrong thing right (Is 62:1)
15) in my weakness and sin, you chose me and call me holy, blameless, and pure (Eph 1:4)
16) sending your son Jesus, who through His body, made a new and living way (Heb 10:20) when there didn’t have to be one, for me to come boldly and without shame into Your presence, so that you can pour out your love and mercy, because you love me.
17) being constant, unchanging, the same yesterday today and forever (Heb 13:8)
18) being steadfast in love, abounding in mercy, grace and kindness. (Ps. 145:8)
19) the depths of your mercy and irresistible grace. Your kindness leads to repentance (Rom 2:4)
20) You never give up on us, you are committed to us. you chase us down with your love. Your love that which is relentless and patient, longsuffering.
21) Your transcendent beauty, that which causes angels and the twenty four elders and four living creatures to gaze upon you day and night (Rev 4). I will join them and gaze upon You.
22) Always being with me. You never leave me nor forsake me. Your eyes are upon me always. Just knowing that you’re here with me now changes everything.
23) giving me beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for heaviness, that you would call me an oak of righteousness (Is 61:3)
24) Your desire for me, that which is greater than my desire for you (John 17:24)
dear mom,
happy mother's day and early birthday. i just wanted to tell the world how much i love you and how special you are to me. this year you're in china visiting dad, so there's no one to cook breakfast for this sunday morning. maybe i'll just cook for alicia, and i'll leave the card for you to read when you come back. you always cry when we give you the mother's day card, because your heart is so tender, so full of love for us and this family.
mom, thanks for being the rock of our family. i know it hasn't been easy, but your love for dad and our family is a living example of 1 corinthians 13 true love. mom, you really taught me what it means to love without expecting anything in return. you taught me how to love the unlovely, those who need love the most. you love with a love that never gives up.
mom, thanks for teaching me what joy is. that joy isn't a feeling or emotion, but a decision to take our eyes off our circumstances and find our joy in the everlasting goodness of God. your desire to praise God in every situation, especially in hard circumstances has given me a reason to rejoice always, to praise God always. thanks for teaching me how to live a life focused not on the sufferings and trials of this world, but on the eternal glory and pleasures found at the right hand of God.
mom, thanks for your smile and laughter, even in the most broken circumstances. the times you praise God when dad isn't in a good mood reminds me that i have no right to live even for a moment in sadness or fear, but that the joy of the LORD is our strength. your joy despite all the hardships in your life leaves me speechless, and always stops me from self-pity when i think my life is hard.
mom, thanks for your passion for Jesus. the way you get up at the early hours of every morning to wait upon God. the ways you have taught me to believe in prayer, the ways God heard our prayers and saved dad and our family; the ways you prayed me into who i am today, the ways you pray for my future wife =), your prayers made all the difference, mom.
mom, thanks for your sacrifice. the ways you chose not to work just so you could spend time raising me, rick and alicia. we all love you so much. thanks for your selfless love to value us more than yourself or your career.
mom, thanks for always being so proud of me, even before i have done a thing. thanks for always reminding me of my strengths, and believing in me even when i don't believe in myself. thanks for calling me the smartest boy in the world even if i don't get the best grades, and always finding worth in me even when i don't see it in myself. thanks for always reminding me that i am God's beloved son.
mom, thanks for all the good food, emails (even if your english isn't that good), hour-long phone conversations, and every single one of our talks in the kitchen about Jesus, family, life, and more Jesus. i will never forget all the times we prayed and cried out to to God together. He heard all of our prayers.
mom, thanks for being not just a mom, but a friend, who always listens and who i can always trust.
i love you mom.
may you walk even closer to Jesus this year.
i'm Yours, to take and break just me make me sensitive to You, i've come too far to turn around now, there's nothing I wouldn't do, to hear Your words of life LORD, to be as close to You, as any man has ever dared to come. i'm Yours.
all my fountains are in You all my desires are found there too i am only satisfied, satisfied in You all I really want to do is find You, all I really want to do is stay there when I do.
favorite one. beloved son. bride. living sacrifice. lovesick. intimacy. glory. passion. fire. holy spirit. abundant life. peace. fearfully and wonderfully made. so satisfied with Him. transformed from glory to glory. kingdom come. thy will be done. on earth as in heaven. maranatha.
